


Fledgling

by Pouler (poulerslashes)



Series: Family Headcanon Theatre [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Family Headcanons, Gen, headcanons run amuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-11
Updated: 2015-01-11
Packaged: 2018-03-07 02:44:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3158258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poulerslashes/pseuds/Pouler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nishinoya was seven years old when they brought home the baby.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fledgling

Nishinoya was seven years old when they brought home the baby. “Your momma’s coming home today, Yuu-chan,” his father said, “and your baby sister.”

He insisted on wearing his uniform, despite the fact there was no school that day. They set the carrier on the floor so he could get a good look. Nishinoya’s dad hid a smile behind his hand as Nishinoya stood over the carrier with his hands on his hips and a fierce expression on his face, his uniform neater than he ever wore it to school. “Hey, baby,” Nishinoya said, “I’m your big brother.”

"Yuu-chan," his mother said wearily, "her name is Suzume."

“ _Mom_ ,” he whined, “You can’t say - _chan_  in front of the baby!”

"Of course, dear," she said, and then she went to take a nap.

~

Two years later, when Taka came home, Nishinoya held Suzu up with a hand under each arm so she could see over the edge of the crib. “That’s our baby brother, Suzu-chan,” he told her, and she giggled in delight.

"Brother!" she said, and she reached down and smacked Taka in the leg.

"Suzu-chan!" Nishinoya scolded harshly. He looked over his shoulder, but his parents were not in the room. He looked back down in to the crib, expecting Taka to start screaming the same way Suzu had when she’d been that small.

But Taka just whimpered, his lower lip trembled, and tears pooled in his overly large eyes. Noya put Suzu down. He reached into the crib. “Hey, little guy,” he said, “hey.”

Nishinoya lifted Taka carefully, just the way his parents had taught him to hold Suzu.  _Not too quickly, Yuu-chan. Careful with the neck, Yuu-chan. Hold him close so he feels safe, Yuu-chan._

"There now," he said gently. "It’s okay." He patted Taka on the back. "She’s sorry, right?" He looked hard at Suzu, who was staring at him with two fingers in her mouth and her eyes wide in her round face. " _Right_?”

She nodded quickly. “Suzu sorry,” she said.

Taka curled against Nishinoya’s chest. He was tiny, smaller than Suzu had been, and Nishinoya could hold him easily. He fisted his hand in Noya’s shirt and blinked sleepily. “Okay,” Noya said.

"I wanna hold the baby, brother!" Suzu whined, tugging on his pants.

"Not yet, Suzu-chan, you’re too little."

"NOOOOO!" she wailed.

"Quiet! You’ll bring Mom in!"

“ _Nooooo,_ " she sobbed, marginally softer.

"Okay, okay," Nishinoya said. "But only if you let me help, okay?"  
  
Suzu hiccuped, tears streaming down her face. “Okay,” she agreed.

They sat together in the big easy chair in Taka’s room, Noya first with Suzu diagonally across his lap, her tucked in the crook of one arm and Taka asleep in in the other. Suzu petted the baby softly, touching his face and his hair, his tiny knuckles and his wrinkly knees. She sang him a little song, something nonsensical, maybe from one of the shows that their dad let her watch when their mom wasn’t around.

Nishinoya held them both, feeling very old and very brave – after all, he was nearly ten and they were both still tiny. His mom poked her head in the room, and he froze momentarily. He wasn’t supposed to hold Taka without his mom or dad in the room, and certainly both of the kids at one time was inviting trouble. But his mom just looked at him with a careful expression for a long moment, and then said, “Be careful with them, Yuu-chan. They’re fragile when they’re little.”

Suzu wriggled out of his lap and ran across the room to their mother in the doorway, but Nishinoya had a stable grip on Taka and he wasn’t jostled too much. “Don’t say   _-chan_ anymore, Mom,” he said. “I’m a big brother, after all.”

~

Suzu took to school with no problems and came home telling stories about her ten new best friends. Taka had more difficulty. He was softer than his older siblings, shy and quiet. When Noya and Suzu went running around the park, he’d rather sit in the shade and read or color; usually Suzu would tease him and Noya would grab him and tickle him until he started squealing – and then they’d all run off, the three of them together.

With school, there was no way for Nishinoya to break the seal on Taka’s timidity. He was in his last year of middle school, a train ride away from his siblings. So every morning before he left, he’d loop an arm around Taka’s shoulders and give him an affirming statement. “Grab life by the balls, little bro!” he demanded one morning.

"Brother, you are so  _gross_!” Suzu exclaimed as she wrestled her boots on.

"Quiet, Suzu," Noya said. He bent down to tie Taka’s shoelaces. "A girl like you doesn’t understand how to be a man in today’s world."

"Who’s a man, shortie?" she said. She was eight, and only fifteen centimeters shorter than him. He’d nervously watched the marks of their heights on the bedroom doorjamb creeping closer to his own.

"Silence," he ordered, and he flicked her in the forehead.

"They don’t like me, brother," Taka said softly. "The other kids."

"That’s  _impossible_ ,” Noya told him. “How could anyone not like you?”

Taka shifted from foot to foot. “But what if they don’t?” he said.

"Impossible," Nishinoya repeated. "Besides, if you don’t talk to them, how can you know?"

Taka seemed to consider the logic in this for a moment. “I guess…” he said, and he clutched his backpack tighter.

"Here," Noya said. "I’ve got it." He ran to his room and dug around in the closet, and when he came back he had Ultraman clutched in his fist. "Here," he said, and he gave it to Taka.

Taka took the action figure with an awed look on his face. “Brother, this is yours.”  
  
Nishinoya knelt to look him in the eye. “I’m entrusting it to you. He helped me find friends when I started school. I know he’ll help you too. You’ll take care of him for me, right?”

Taka looked at him with eyes wide and shining. He nodded once, quickly.

"Come  _on_ ,” Suzu said. She held out her hand and Taka took it.

"Go for it, little bro!" Noya ordered, and Taka looked for once like he might actually take the advice.

~

It was nearly two years later when Nishinoya came home from school with thunderstorm inside him and a week’s suspension. After his dad went back to work, he’d slammed every door in the house just to hear noise in the empty space – then went and laid on his bed and stared at the ceiling, as though it could give him some answer or absolution that he was sorely needing.

Taka and Suzu found him there when they came home from school. Suzu climbed into bed with him immediately and nestled in beside him, between his ribs and his arm. Taka went out of the room for a moment, then came back in and got into the bed as well. He settled himself on Noya’s other side, and shoved something into Noya’s hand before tucking himself under Noya’s armpit.

Nishinoya raised his hand up and saw it was the Ultraman figure. His heart panged in his chest and he hugged his brother and sister close to his sides and gripped the action figure so tight he felt it cut into his palm. If he cried a little they didn’t say anything.

"Mom’s gonna murder me," he said finally.

"She didn’t when you burnt Taka’s eyebrows off," Suzu reminded him.

"They grew back," Taka said. "She only grounded you for a month."

Nishinoya smiled sadly. “I guess that’s true.” The darkness inside him eased, though it did not dissipate.

"Getting older is hard," he told them.

"Stop being so dramatic, brother," Suzu said.

"You can handle anything," Taka chimed in.

Nishinoya held them tightly. Their unshaking faith made him almost believe it. It gave him the strength to get out of the bed, and think about what came next.


End file.
